The SoyNut Butter Company is voluntarily recalling their I.M. Healthy Original Creamy SoyNut Butter with the Best By dates of 8-30-18 and 8-31-18. This recall is in response to the FDA's investigation of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that has sickened at least 12 people in five states. The press release from the company states that this recall does not affect any other I.M. Healthy products.
However, the CDC, FDA, and the state governments of Arizona, California, and Maryland are telling consumers not to eat any I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter products, including their SoyNut Butter coated granola, until more information about the outbreak is available. These products have a long shelf life and are in consumers' homes.
If you purchased any I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter products, do not eat … [Read more...]

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requesting comments, data, and other information for an assessment of the risk of Salmonella associated with tree nut consumption. Public health officials are trying to quantify the risk associated with tree nuts and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to prevent contamination.
There have been several outbreaks and many recalls of tree nuts for Salmonella contamination in the past 12 years. In 2001, raw whole almonds contaminated with the bacteria were linked to a Salmonella Enteriditis outbreak that sickened 11 in the U.S. and 157 in Canada. In 2003, the same bacteria in whole raw almonds sickened 29 people in 12 states and one province in Canada. In February 2013, an appeals court ruled that the USDA can required pasteurization of raw … [Read more...]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has the authority to require California almond growers to pasteurize or chemically treat nuts to kill pathogens before they are sold, the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled. The ruling comes five years after Nick Korteoff, an organic California almond farmer, and others first filed suit saying the USDA had overstepped its bounds by requiring such a treatment.
The conflict began after a 2003 Salmonella outbreak linked to raw almonds sickened 29 people in 12 states. Another outbreak had occurred two years earlier. In response to the outbreaks, the USDA secretary published in the Federal Register a rule proposing that almonds grown and sold domestically be pasteurized or treated with chemicals to prevent illness.
As one of California's biggest … [Read more...]